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While spring might be the season that makes you think of flowers the most, winter is rich with its own selection of beautiful blooms and Sweet Root Village is here to help prove that point. The photography + floral design powerhouse put together a beautiful arrangement of flowers incorporating soft blue and sweet pink, perfect for Pantone’s colors of 2016! Let’s take a look:

From Sweet Root Village: This glamorous, wintery centerpiece is packed with lush ivory and pale pink blooms and completed with touches of icy blue textures. A perfect way to mix the 2016 Pantone colors of the year! The bulk of this arrangement is made up of blooms that can be found all year long, such as hydrangea, standard roses, and spray roses. These blooms can be found in such a huge variety of colors and translate well into nearly any sort of theme or style depending on how they are used!

Some of the more delicate blooms like Scabiosa and Ranunculus can be sourced most of the year, but they do have several off months that fluctuate depending on the weather. Evergreens and Firs can be foraged all year long, but are most used during the winter months of course due to the wintery feeling they add to arrangements and wreaths. Privet berry is another wintery element that is well loved for its deep blue colored berries! It’s usually available over the summer, but its berries are green! They slowly darken to the deep blue color we all love the closer they get to winter and typically finish their season by December. During the Spring months, the always lovely Viburnum is a great alternative! Eucalyptus silver bell pods are typically only found over the holidays! Get them in December and January before they bloom out and are hard to find.

Paperwhites are an extremely fragrant bulb flower that are usually found during the Winter months of November through March. The teeny, delicate blooms clustered in an arrangement add such a beautiful and unexpected texture! They are not expensive blooms, but they do quickly add up in an arrangement due to needing so many of the tiny stems to make any sort of impact.

This centerpiece could translate to a Spring arrangement by adjusting to add some stunning sweat pea on the vine and popping in a few fluffy peonies. Or to a Summer, rustic wedding by switching out the wintery textures for queen anne’s lace and seeded eucalyptus. Extra deep toned burgundy Dahlias and snapdragons with some dried hydrangeas would take this arrangement towards gorgeous Autumn route.

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When is it ever not a good day for a garden wedding? This gorgeous event was put together by the bride and her ever-so-talented planners/designers Amorology and Devynn’s Garden in control of floral design, and it was up to Jeremy Chou Photography to capture everything for a lifetime of memories. Everything was a raving success, as you’ll see from these images!

From the bride, Corrie: I grew up in the country and I envisioned a romantic and soft look with a old California feel. We chose our venue because it was how I envisioned California during the days of the missions and farmers. I have a childhood memory of my mom’s rose garden mixing in with native California succulents. I wanted my wedding to have that childhood memory. I also wanted to incorporate orange, blue, yellow and pink mixed with succulents and wood because I think the soft colors compliant the darker colors of the wood and succulents. All of my mason jars filled with sand were assembled by myself.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? I tried to be economical and plan and design my wedding myself and I relied heavily on Pinterest and Etsy. My advice for working professionals is to just hire a wedding coordinator. I worked with Amorology for the last 30 days and they had great advice and unfortunately I discovered they could have found better deals for me on decor and vendors.

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Be still our wedding-loving hearts. This Pennsylvania wedding between Melissa and Sam has some of our absolute favorite vendors on board, including Pat Furey, Laurel and Elm, and Kate Farley, just to name a few! It might just be the perfect wedding for fall, mixing a color palette of blush pink and burgundy to perfection and even incorporating berry boutonnieres for the gents.

From the bride, Melissa: I envisioned our wedding style being natural elegance with pops of whimsy. We wanted our day to be gorgeous, insanely fun and memorable for our guests without being too formal. Great food and drinks, tons of dancing with beautiful details for a memorable backdrop for our big day. The color story was blush, burgundy and amber with pops of metallic copper and gold wherever I could possibly incorporate them :)

Since I’m a designer specializing in hand lettering there were a TON of DIY projects: I designed my own engagement ring, Save the Dates, wedding invitations (with hand-painted watercolor floral envelope liners), wedding website, programs, hand stamped muslin welcome bags with itinerary and door hanger, hand calligraphed seating chart, dip-dyed calligraphed placecards, wine bottles with labels that doubled as the table number and guestbook for each table (we’re planning on opening them on each corresponding anniversary), signage, and for the place cards I dip-dyed them different colors based on our guests’ meal choices —- burgundy was prime rib, brown for duck, and green for the vegetarian option (pasta). My mom, sister and I also constructed all the terrariums we used for centerpieces and the garland that was hung on the fireplace and bar at the reception.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Enjoy every minute of your big day and know the details you want to pay attention to – there’s so much going on that day it’s easy to miss things if you’re not looking for them. Don’t forget to eat! Take dance lessons! We surprised all our family and friends by learning to waltz and having some simple choreography for our first dance – everyone went crazy and loved it!! Spring for videography – being able to watch moments from your big day years later will be priceless.

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Today’s wedding is a camping lover’s dream, full of lush greenery, rustic wooden elements, and an intimate celebration that just about knocks our socks off. Kristen and Christian’s wedding is brimming over with so much love and joy that we’ve had just about the most difficult time ever narrowing down these images for you, due in no small part to the wonderful work of Braedon Photography.

From the bride, Kristen: We envisioned our wedding as a larger version of what we love to do most, which is camp along the coast with friends and family. That included an outdoor ceremony, dinner, dancing, and camping all in one place, and avoiding the curfew and late-night drive home that often occur at weddings. This seemed like a tall order at first, but pretty early in our venue search we discovered OVY Camp + Event Center which was pretty much the perfect spot for what we imagined! The camp has a redwood grove, outdoor amphitheater, main hall with a stone fireplace and exposed rafters, fire pits, and tiny log cabins.

Flower recipe: I left almost all the decision making to our super intuitive and tasteful florist, Lover Bee Botany. My few suggestions included eucalyptus, ranunculus and scabiosa, so those were all there, and she added lots of other green-and-white magic with green-centered anemones, ferns, and some wild grasses. She was a genius with the whole thing.

We also felt it was important to keep the whole thing true to who we are, so rather than outsource planning we did it ourselves, and recruited a bunch of our (very talented) friends for everything from bartending and DJ-ing to helping with decor, playing music, and being our day-of coordinator. It all ended up being that much more fun, and we wouldn’t trade that decision for anything else. Inspired by the landscape and campout, we created a woodsy feel using lots of greenery, raw-edged wood, white linens and candles, crocheted and plaid blankets, and baskets full of sparklers and s’mores sticks. We kept most things simple, including the color scheme (it was all neutrals and greens) and dishware, and put more energy into the lighting, amphitheater ceremony backdrop, and leafy florals.

One favorite element was our wedding-night camp setup: we found this awesome Sibley yurt tent, and our friends and family helped us do it up with bedding, lights, flowers, and even our own tiny bottle of Limoncello. I also enjoyed some of the smaller details: the leather sandals I made for myself, “Camp Morabito” sugar cookies our coordinator baked as a surprise, and the canoe cake topper we found on Etsy. For the reception, we made a botanical seating chart using a big wooden frame we made, tiny clothespins, and foraged rosemary sprigs, and made all the signage ourselves. I also made about a million of these paper clay barnacles with the help of my endlessly patient and helpful friends. They were clustered along the long dinner tables with glass tea lights, leafy table runners and simple painted wooden table numbers. My mom and her friends also made hand-knitted cowls for all my bridesmaids, Christian’s grandma and aunt did up the bathrooms with candles and sweet decorations, another grandmother made their family-recipe Limoncello to serve with dessert, and my sister infused all the alcohol that was served in the cocktails—all of which was incredibly special!

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? We tried hard to keep the whole process fun and personal. Involving friends and family in so many ways definitely made that happen, and Christian reminded me at stressful moments that it should be fun! Also, while it’s great to have a vision, remember to sometimes be surprised by the way things often come together; unexpected moments can be the most memorable, and if something doesn’t perfectly it’s usually not important anyway. Focus on the fun and friendship!

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When it comes to knocking weddings out of the park, look no further than the team of Laura Murray Photography, Calluna Events, and Flora and Folly. Nicole and Alex’s wedding in the mountains of Colorado is romantic, elegant, and still relaxed — the perfect recipe for an unforgettable day.

From the bride, Nicole: We knew we wanted to be married in the mountains of Colorado. We wanted a location that would show off the beauty of Colorado, yet be convenient for the majority of the guests who were traveling from all over the US. This made choosing Devils Thumb Ranch a very easy decision. We could hold a ceremony outside overlooking the mountain range, a reception in a beautiful barn, and all of our guests could stay on the ranch and spend the entire weekend with us.

I wanted a romantic and soft color palette to soften up the rustic atmosphere. We also wanted there to be several different types of textures involved by using varying types of greenery. The color palette was white, coral, peach, pink, and varying shades of green. We also used touches of gold throughout.

Bouquet recipe: Mostly round in shape but neither tight nor wild. Flowers included garden roses, dahlias, astilbe, scabiosa, mint & maidenhair fern. The bouquet had a white backdrop with several pops of bright pink/coral tones. It was wrapped with blush and lace ribbons. The lace ribbon was made from my grandmother’s wedding dress. My husband Alex loves ferns, which is why we chose to incorporate them in my bouquet. The other flowers are favorites of mine.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Stay true to yourself and your style. It is impossible to please everyone. Talk to your fiancé about what is really important to each of you and make sure that you stay focused on that throughout the planning process. I felt guilty because many of my family members from Ohio were not able to fly to Colorado for the wedding and I felt that this disappointed my parents. I thought they might have been happier if we chose a location closer to home. However, now having lived through that amazing day, I can’t imagine doing it any other way. It was exactly what we wanted. Colorado is so special to Alex and me. We chose the location for a reason. We threw a celebration that was truly us and I am proud of that. Our families had a blast and really just wanted to make sure we had the best day. I recommend doing engagement photos with your wedding photographer before your big day, despite how awkward you fear they may be. It’s a great way to get to know your photographer and to get the awkwardness out of the way. It’s like a warm-up for the big day. Do a first look! It is so much fun and allows you to enjoy more of your wedding day. It was such a good decision. We did our maid of honor and best man toasts at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. We didn’t want them to be stressed the day of the wedding about having to make a speech in front of a large crowd of people. They were so thankful to be able to do it in a small intimate setting and to have it out of the way for the big day. It can be emotional and stressful for some people. We know how much they love us and didn’t feel the need to hear them say it in front of 100 people. Hire a day of coordinator if it is in your budget. This advice was given to us from our friends that were married. I am glad we listened to them.

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There’s just no place more romantic than estate grounds for a wedding, don’t you think? The incredible team behind today’s shoot, including J.Ashley Photography, Southern Flair Events, Evermore Weddings and Events, and Virtu Floral Design, sure think so, and we have to agree. The show-stopper of this styled shoot has to be the floral and greenery table runner, which makes the perfect statement piece for a garden inspired wedding no matter the location.

From the photographer, J.Ashley Photography: This styled shoot was inspired by the romance and timeless elegance of the South. This was a collaborative effort of some of the most talented vendors in Atlanta to design and create an ultra romantic experience that would truly showcase southern sophistication. We chose a color palette of gold and marsala with hints of blush and light pink to give contrast and variation to the overall color scheme.

A custom made farm table nestled in a grove of picturesque Oak trees was the focal point of the shoot. A lush garland comprised of varying types of eucalyptus, red oak, Tree ivy, olive and camellia graced the center of the table and flowed onto the ground. This foliage was combined with a mix of both black and peach dahlias, a variety of gorgeous open garden roses, along with seasonal pink snowberry, burgundy snapdragons and a combination of fresh plums, pears and other seasonal fruits were placed among the table to inject texture as well as additional color.

Vintage brass candelabras were mixed with gold rimmed stemware, flatware and china for a stately and elegant effect along with hand-painted round gold menus at the center of every place setting. The centerpiece of this opulent estate table was a magnificent 5 tiered cake with a ruffled rose pattern of hand-crafted gumpaste flowers highlighted with edible gold details. The signature drink featured was a Thyme Infused Blackberry Martini that added the perfect pop of color on the tables. Crossback vineyard chairs were adorned with “Mr. & Mrs.” hand-painted vintage mirrors to add in a reflective element.The bride wore a gorgeous Elizabeth Fillmore “Thalia” dress with a modern face veil from Fabulous Frocks of Atlanta. We accented the dress with natural eye makeup and a marsala lip to complement her flowers. She carried a beautiful bouquet of a softer cream and peach palette, accented with deep berry tones and comprised of a mix of peach amaryllis, oversized dahlias and blush peach roses, accented with South African blushing bride protea, scabiosa, nigella, pink snowberry, safari sunset leucadendron and bits of red oak, seeded eucalyptus and tree ivy.

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Dear readers, today we have a wedding that couldn’t be more beautiful if it tried. What else can you expect when you have a dream team like Encarnacion Photography, Enjoy Events Co., and Shotgun Floral Studio, though? These San Francisco vendors brought Jennifer and Armello’s wedding day vision to a reality in the best way possible, with gold and copper details, geometric accents, and heaps of modern elegance.

From the bride, Jennifer: We wanted modern elegance, with highlights of gold + copper, and lots of bright floral/greenery to accent our color scheme. We met during college at the University of San Francisco, so St. Ignatius Church (the church on campus, and also where we graduated together) was our only choice for our ceremony. Not to mention how gorgeous it is with its high ceilings and ornate architectural details, it was the perfect place for us. And we just fell in love with Asian Art Museum’s tall marble columns, around which our cocktail hour was held, and Samsung Hall for our reception with it’s large windows, high ceilings, and beautiful center chandelier.

Although our families and friends are large groups on both sides, we still wanted our wedding to feel intimate and full of our love. We also wanted to have a celebratory/party feel to our reception. The colors we chose to use were bordeaux, ruby, blush pink, gold, and black for a day that was modern, elegant, and romantic. Triangles were used throughout our paper goods + decor to symbolize one of our favorite bible verses — “Ecclesiastes 4:12 – A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Enjoy each step of planning, even during the stressful moments because it goes by so fast. Don’t get so caught up in the details that you forget the reason behind it all, which is marrying the love of your life. Take breaks from planning to spend time together, to keep the stress level down and to really enjoy each other as an engaged couple. As for the actual wedding day, take a deep breath and just let the day unfold. Allow yourself to take in each moment and feel all the love and joy from your soon-to-be spouse, family, and friends, it’ll help the day not go by so fast.

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English countryside weddings, we love you so. Nina and Gareth are an Australian-English couple who traveled to the groom’s home town to exchange vows in front of their loved ones. Luckily for us, Laura McCluskey of LM Weddings was there to capture it all for us to admire!

From the bride, Nina: We wanted a relaxed day in the countryside that represented both of our upbringings despite coming from opposite sides of the world. An English countryside setting with plenty of Australian inspired details, food and drinks as a nod to my childhood. With many overseas guests, we wanted to take the opportunity to show off Gareth’s beautiful home town during the glorious British summertime. We took inspiration from summer wildflowers with lots of blues and greens and hints of red. We also incorporated elements of the countryside with lots of wood, natural light and maps.

The whole event was very DIY, and everyone’s contributions made it feel so special. There was such an overwhelming sense of excitement and love as we all set up the hall together the day before. One of my favourite memories is watching my father and my husband-to-be working together to saw the table number bases on the grass outside the hall. My cousin Arielle Gamble is an illustrator and we were incredibly lucky to have her involved with everything from the invites to the table numbers, seating chart and signage at our village hall reception. My mother and sister put together the dozens of flower centrepieces, which looked beautiful and made the hall smell amazing with all the fresh herbs. My mother lovingly collected all the linen napkins and Australiana tablecloths and brought them over with her. I made all the bunting from scraps of Liberty print fabric I had collected.

We worked with The Meadow Garden, a small flower farm based next door to the village hall. The flowers could not have been more local! They offered us a beautiful array of seasonal, sustainable English flowers and we chose a mix of summer wildflowers that included scabiosa, poppy heads, daisies, ammi, cornflowers, snapdragons, cream roses, salvia and herbs like oregano, catmint, lavender and rosemary. I wandered around the farm the day before the wedding helping them pick a few more sweet peas that had bloomed overnight, which was a dream come true.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Listen to your instincts and try not to get overwhelmed by the huge amount of inspiration available. Remember it’s your day and your budget and you should do what feels right for you and your partner even if it’s not traditional. Don’t be afraid to ask friends for help! We were so lucky to work with our talented friends and so many pitched in to help with djing, catering, flowers, invites etc. It was definitely a labour of love! If guests are travelling from abroad, try to organise a casual event the day after the wedding so you can make sure you spend enough time with them. The actual day will go so fast and you will be grateful for a little extra time to spend with the people that have made such an effort to be there for you even if it’s just a picnic in the park.

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Recently, a slew of Austin’s best wedding vendors gathered together for an open house event at The Allen House, designing an incredible scene full of bohemian inspiration, late summer charm, and some seriously stunning tropical floral arrangements. Thank you to Amber Vickery Photography, Gypsy Floral and Events, and Loot Vintage Rentals for putting together such eye-catching ideas!

From florists and event designers Sunni and Emily of Gypsy Floral and Events: The Allan House Open House event was the ultimate in vendor collaboration. We have close relationships with all of these vendors and work with many of them throughout the year, and events like this really allows each vendor to let their creativity shine! The ladies at Loot Vintage Rentals contributed boho inspiration and many of our favorite elements of this event. The triangle backdrop was the best! There’s so much potential here to fill the cubbies with light, flowers, vines and objects of interest. It’s free-standing and versatile and captured the boho glam spirit. The rich, storied feel of the seaglass wine vessels and textured jewel-toned rugs complimented the rawness of the backdrop and created a sacred space for the ceremony.

The tablescape florals included protea, scabiosa flowers, chocolate cosmos, dahlias, garden roses, and queen ann’s lace placed in brass vessels. Hand-died cheesecloth was the perfect shade of apricot to match the color palette. We love the boho vibe that dream catchers bring to any setting event, and wanted to put our own unique spin on it. Loot put together these fabulous triangle-shaped dream catchers with copper, shredded fabric, crystals and floral flourishes and they turned out to be the perfect icon for this summer soiree. The furniture vignettes struck a great balance between romantic, boho, and rustic. Raw wood and lovely textiles paired with candles in Himalayan sea salt made for a magical setting and a memorable evening. Who wouldn’t love to cozy up in a teepee of lace?

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What’s a wedding without a bit of rain for good luck? Some late summer showers were in store for Lindsey and Cameron’s wedding day, but the pair didn’t let it dampen their excitement in the slightest. Of course, it likely helped that they had an amazing team of vendors by their side – including Teale Photography, Marilisa Schachinger with Chancey Charm, and Amy Osaba, who made this dream day something special to remember for always.

From the bride, Lindsey: When we began wedding planning I knew I wanted two things: I wanted tons of greens with vivid flowers and I wanted a wedding that showed God’s grace and faithfulness in Cam and my relationship. My flowers were my most important factor in my wedding budget. I knew I wanted to use Amy Osaba long before I was engaged. She is brilliant! I wanted to stay away from the blush tones that have been used so often lately. It is absolutely stunning, but I wanted something different, joyful, whimsical, romantic, and fun! Our wonderful planner, Marilisa Schachinger and Amy Osaba along with Tracy at Crush Rentals worked together to perfectly piece together my dream style!! The entire day felt like we were in a beautiful secret garden.

While I would never wish it to rain on someone’s wedding day, it makes for the most romantic, beautiful pictures! It poured on our wedding day up until our ceremony. It literally stopped raining as I began to walk down the aisle! I had always said I would not want it to rain on our wedding day, but if it did, I would not allow it to take away from the meaning of the day. I held to that the entire day, and I can honestly say it did not even phase me in the slightest. After all, it’s supposed to be a blessing to have rain on your wedding day right? I feel that the rain added to the secret garden feel that I LOVED for our wedding!!

Cam and I are high school sweethearts. We began dating the last day of school my freshman year of high school. We have learned so incredibly much from our relationship and grown together over the years. We have seen the Lord work in such amazing ways in our lives and in each others lives. God is faithful; God is good. These are the things we wanted displayed and remembered most about our wedding. We incorporated our beliefs by having worship music played, paying together (without Cam seeing me) before the wedding, have a moment of prayer during the ceremony with our closest family and friends, and receiving communion as the first thing we did as a married couple. One of my best friends, Allee, made our save the dates, invitations, programs, welcome signs, table numbers, decor signs, table and table assignment display. — needless to say she was a gem with all of her help!! We are so incredibly thankful for all she did for us!

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Enjoy every second of planning! – it seriously is one of the most joyful times of life :) Don’t fret over the small details that no one will notice. Appreciate others’ advice but hold true to what you want; you only get this day once! Amidst all the chaos of planning and preparing for this special day, remember what marriage means to you!

Wedding Music:Oh man, Paul Taylor Smith played our ceremony and cocktail hour music, and he totally set the mood of the wedding. He was beyond incredible and I would highly recommend him to anyone!
Prelude: “How He Loves,” David Crowder; “Marry Me,” Train; “Here’s My Heart,” David Crowder; “Holy Wedding Day,” City Harmonic
Bridal Party Processional: “A Place Only You Can Go,” Needtobreathe; “Hallelujah,” Jeff Buckley
Bride’s Processional: “Always Forever,” Phil Whikham
Recessional: “I Will Wait,” Mumford and Sons
First Dance: “Angel,” Jack Johnson

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When you’ve got two gorgeous gowns, a jaw-dropping ceremony stage, impeccable floral design from The Flower Studio, and succulents galore, you’ve got one stylish shoot we just can’t pass up. With Amy & Jordan Photography behind the camera and Imoni Events tackling all the design elements, how could we?

From the event designer, Imoni Events: “Something Old, Something New” was inspired by the idea of the gorgeous Madison James gowns set again rich fabrics, organic florals, natural elements and a hint of structure and metals. Pairing the old and the new created a very intricate landscape for this styled shoot. For the bridal florals we used a hand tied bouquet featuring Amnesia roses, champagne quicksand roses, ivory spray roses, white scabiosa, and scabiosa pods. For the ceremony space we used an incredibly romantic chuppah adorned with custom gauze flax-colored fabric panels, hand-carved weathered wood Geodesic pendant lights and asymmetrical design of lush floral with large succulent details. Staging this inspiration shoot at sunset amped up the romance to another level. The bride and groom were accented by the glow of the hanging lanterns!

Down the aisle, we wanted an eclectic feel and also to incorporate subtle blue tones against the natural lawn so we used oversized blue recycled glass vases with Dusty Miller foliage, roses, hydrangea, and vintage french Cane Back chairs. For the reception dinner space. We wanted to continue with that old meets new vibe and used a geo-printed linen from La a Tavola with Florentine wood candlesticks, multiple glass geodesic terrariums with Blue Rose echeveria succulents. Our paper products were subtle yet extremely detailed and handcrafted. Page and Mason created clever hanging place cards to accentuate the gorgeous cane back chairs and add an element of surprise. For the cake, we really wanted to showcase the geo print from the La Tavola Linen on the reception table, so Ruze Cake House created a gorgeous fondant cake that mirrored the print perfectly! From beginning to end, it was absolutely breathtaking.

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We can always count on Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography to bring some serious sophistication to the wedding world. Today’s styled shoot, put together by Fête Studio with flowers from Anthomanic, seamlessly blends equestrian-inspired style with farm elegance for a look that’s reminiscent of archetypal Ralph Lauren.

From the event stylists, Fête Studio: For this Ralph Lauren inspired style shoot, we wanted to capture the designer’s unique talent for creating a style that looks simultaneously aristocratic and naturally elegant. Inspired by the crisp whites, dusty lilacs, powdery pinks and dove grays of Ralph Lauren’s Fall 2014 collection, the color palette set a romantic tone to complement the classic beauty of Mount Ida Farm in Charlottesville, VA. Then, to create a more dramatic look, we added accents of burgundy and navy and lots of texture, including plaid linens, wooden details, a long table garland, feathers, and a grand bridal bouquet of lisianthus, scabiosa and waxflowers.

Paying homage to Ralph Lauren’s equestrian flair, we dressed our bride in a second look with a black blazer, top hat and riding boots to pose with her husband and the magnificent Clydesdale horses in a field overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. We sought to craft fall wedding inspiration that exudes timelessness with a touch of drama, a nod to Ralph Lauren’s iconic brand.

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How can you top an amazingly hip couple with a classically bohemian wedding style? Oh yeah, you can’t. We’re lucky enough to have this wedding from Ellie Gillard (and with stunning floral arrangements from Rebecca Clarkson of Battersea Flower Station) and we’re ga-ga for all the details — like the dried flowers, the bride’s style, and the abundance of feathers and candles.

From the bride, Georgie: It was always going to be an East London wedding; it’s where we met and have lived together for the last 5 and a half years. We decided to play it safe, and opt for a winter wedding given how unpredictable British summertime can be. Keeping it personal was important, for example we took creative license when it came to traditions. So the church was a very old fashioned ceremony where we had to kneel, but we shunned other traditions like having a seating plan. Music was key. In fact, I think one of the first things we booked was the band (Fleetwood Bac – an amazing tribute band). They kind of became the inspiration for the look and feel of the wedding.

Overall I would describe the theme as wild gypsy, bohemian meets Gothic, medieval. We had loads of handmade hanging feathers, dried wild flowers, giant dream catchers, ribbon garlands and hundreds of candles (500 to be precise!). Our friend designed amazing bespoke wedding invites that were three personalised tarot cards representing our past, present and future. We set up an old school type writer as a guest book. Another friend made us a beautiful personalised card box from an old suitcase. And there was a washing line of photos of us from babies to now, including shots of us with all the guests at the wedding. There was no colour scheme per se; we just wanted to keep it all quite muted and washed out, with accents of punchier, bold shades like my black cherry lipstick.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Be all over the detail, especially if you don’t have a planner. I work in advertising, so treated it in the same way I would a big production. I had pre-production documents, timing plans and a contact sheet for the wedding party with responsibilities. It just meant that on the day I was so chilled, we had done everything we could and if something went wrong it wasn’t my problem! Get friends and family involved and draw on their skills. Our pals were incredible — my friend Gina did my hair and makeup, Ben did our wedding stationery, another friend DJed, my Dad and Stepmum are chefs so did the food, and we had a gang help us set it up the day before and break it down after. We were super lucky to be surrounded by such talented folk.

From the photographer, Ellie Gillard: Georgie and Andy are super stylish, and planned a urban bohemian wedding with a natural, elegant hippie flavour, in the blank canvas of London’s Tab Centre. Georgie had an amazing Charlotte Casadejus dress, and Andy chose to rock the teddy boy look with a suit from Sandro. The room was decorated with organic elements – corn, lemons and artichokes, as well as giant dreamcatchers, ivy and hundreds of candles.

Wedding Music:
Processional: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
Signing of the Register: “Sea of Love,” Cat Power; “True Love Will Find You in the End,” Daniel Jonson (covered by our lovely friend Charlotte Hancock)
First Dance: “I Wanna Stay With You,” Gallagher and Lyle
Bouquet Toss: “All the Single Ladies,” Beyonce
Last Dance: “You Can Go Your Own Way,” Fleetwood MacI also made a number of playlists which I tried to compliment for the different moods for the day. For example modern string music for the church, beautiful folk-y tracks for straight after the ceremony, chilled 60/70s for the meal and some more uptempo 80s to see us into the night.

From the bride, Emmahlyn: One thing that we both wanted was to have an intimate and romantic wedding outdoors. As a couple, we love being unique and creative in a very stylish way. With this in mind, we searched for the perfect location where we could showcase who we are as a couple and Oak Tree Manor was the place… the venue had beautiful greenery throughout and was vintage and rustic all in one. A Northern California Native Bride with a Rustic Groom from Texas… Perfect! With my love for beautiful florals and all things vintage, we knew that a bohemian garden wedding with lots of vintage inspiration was exactly the style we were wanted to move forward with. We pictured the attire to be casual chic with fun suits and flowy dresses. A dreamy romantic celebration!

The focus for the wedding theme was creating a bohemian garden look with elements of beautiful vintage decor. To help create the romantic feel, we decided to use soft white and ivories with blush, peach, gold and a hint of mint. The color scheme couldn’t have been any prettier. Since I own a paper décor shop on Etsy, I definitely wanted to be very hands on with our wedding. I wanted to use our wedding as inspiration to make something new and different, which was exactly what we did. The DIY projects ended up being all of our personal touches to the wedding and all our guests knew this was an Cliff & Emmahlyn wedding. Cliff and our little ones (Austin-Tyler & Eva-Madison) painted and made the wooden signs and I handmade all the many whimsical paper garlands that hung from the Oak Tree during our ceremony. The aisle had a bunting lace garland that I made using recycled lace pieces from Leann Marshall’s (Project Runway winner) bridal line. I took different styles of lace, hand cut each, and then sewed each on by hand. My daughter, the flower girl, wore a cute halo that I made as well, using vintage velvet flowers and I tied in the back with a beautiful metallic gold ribbon. The metallic ribbon was also the same ribbon I used to make the twine heart ring bearer holder that my son walked down the aisle with. It was a cute little way to link the two together.

For the entrance to the reception, unique and thoughtfully made balloon tassels decorated the large balloons. I made each differently, incorporating our color scheme. Each had hints of lace, decorative gold and glittered ribbons, sequins, and/or heart garlands to bring that special touch to each balloon. The next project was the double-ended tassel garlands. I wanted to create a new idea from the popular fringe garlands. I decided to make paper fringe tassels, each attached to either side of metallic gold/cream twine, making them double-ended, and then hung them at varying lengths for a gorgeous dimensional look. Every tassel that was made, whether it was for the double-ended tassels or for the balloons, was secured to the twine using antique gold ribbons that I especially ordered for our wedding. So there was great detail to every handmade item of the wedding. Pom-poms, many glittered circles for scattering, the glittered ampersand sign, the hand written labels on the donut hole bags, and the gold fringe sweets table sign were also handmade to highlight the dessert table. Lastly was the photo booth back drop. I knew I wanted the backdrop to look spectacular, so layers of texture and dimension were used to create this romantic bohemian chic background. Layers of lace, satin ribbons, handmade glitter circle garlands, sequins, and cone fabric garlands were all used to make up this large 7′ x 8′ photo backdrop. Basically, if there was an opportunity to make something for the wedding, we wanted to do it. It was important to use to make this wedding our own and different from any other. All these projects took time, but were well worth it and were fun to make in the process.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Since we added a lot of personal touches to our wedding that really highlighted who are as a couple, we’d say to cater your wedding around your personalities and who you are as a couple. Your wedding is to celebrate your union and your love, so why not show it through all the details in your wedding. Make the décor, food, songs, and style of the wedding all your own. People will really love and appreciate all the things that represent you as a couple. It makes your wedding more unique, fun, and more heart-felt. We also would like to stress to enjoy the wedding planning process together. There are times where things will be a bit chaotic, especially in the last month, but we always thought about that special day… the day we had been waiting for all this time. We can easily be caught up in the planning process, but always remember that you want to remember that these times were one of the best in your lives.

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For me, one of the greatest parts of fall is seeing all the berry-toned bouquets emerge. Patricia Kantzos Photography helped Bourgeon celebrate the opening of their new studio with this stunning shoot showcasing a bouquet that couldn’t possibly be any more gorgeous, with stems of scabiosa, peonies, ranunculus, and clematis.

From the photographer, Patricia Kantzos: Amy Febinger of Bourgeon and I worked together on an inspiration shoot as a way to celebrate the opening of her Brooklyn flower studio. We wanted to keep it clean and showcase a wedding bouquet, the simplicity of the flowers used along with the bouquet’s architecture and design elements.

Amy decorated her studio space with some beautiful pieces she inherited from her mother and grandmother. We decided to use some of these details in the shoot – the rocking chair, antique silver tray, the pink depression glass pitcher, the Prince Albert tin she uses everyday to hold pins… This was an incredibly heartfelt way to honor her mother and grandmother.

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Call me a romantic, but I simply can’t imagine a dreamier locale for a wedding than a lavender field. I think it’s because it reminds me of days in Provence, and what could be more romantic than that? Hunter Photographic captured this styled shoot on film, while Baci Designer designed the affair and Molly Taylor Designs took the reins on the stunning floral styling.

From the stylist, Baci Designer: Captured on film by Hunter Harrison of Hunter Photographic, this airy and feminine elopement shoot at DayBreak Lavender Farm was the creation of Amanda Cursaro of Baci Designer. The peak of lavender season was the perfect setting for this shoot’s lavender, sage, burlap and grey palette. Amanda created an announcement invitation donning a miniature lavender bouquet in lieu of a traditional suite. The boxed invitation was filled with lavender buds and topped with vintage postage. The ceremony spot was decorated with Hydrangeas, Roses, Clematis, Hanging Amaranthus, Queen Anne’s Lace and Eucalyptus in crates from Borrow Rentals. Bob Javorsky of Our Wedding Officiant led the service.

Outfitted by Something White Bridal Boutique, the bride wore the Abingdon Square Gown by Lela Rose and the bridesmaid wore Ivy & Aster’s Penny Dress. Both ladies sported jewelry from the Honey Rose & K Oh Deer Collection. Molly Taylor Designs created the bridal bouquet with Deer Antler, Hopps, Snow on the Mountain, Scabiosa Pods, Lavender and White Veronica. The bridal head wreath was designed with Grapevine Wreath, Burgundy Dahlia, White Scabiosa, Lavender, Rosemary and Eucalyptus. The men’s boutonnieres were created using Lavender and Scabiosa Pods wrapped with twine. Hair and makeup were provided by MKleinman Artisty and Studio H.

The reclaimed wood table was covered with burlap and lace then topped with a burlap runner and an assortment of small floral arrangements. Each place setting was accompanied by a kraft-roll dinner menu and a hand-painted watercolor place card. The Lemon-Lavender Elopement Mini Cake Favors by Hummingbird Bakery were the perfect finishing touch. The desserts displayed in the primitive white cupboard were a lovely highlight. The Orange Revelry Cake – an orange almond cake with cream made with fresh squeezed oranges and fluffs of Italian meringue – truly shined.

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I adore anything ombre, so when Pollen Floral Design came to us with this stunning ombre flower arrangement, I got just a tad excited! These pretty pink florals and lush greens were all captured beautifully by the talented Cambria Grace Photography and I’m happy to share them with you.

From the florist, Pollen Floral Design: In order to create this ombre look, we start by foraging some local greens. If you don’t have a yard with readily available foliage, look for greens growing on the side of the road, over a fence, or ask your neighbor with the green thumb.

Once all the elements are gathered, begin designing your arrangement with your greens. You want to create a full, lush look that will be the basic structure for you design.

Then we start creating the color gradient by placing the white blooms on the right side of the arrangement. Place your larger flowers first (peonies and garden roses). Then fill in any remaining holes with a smaller white flower (mock orange, dahlias or other small bloom).

Continue building your color gradient by adding more and more pink as you build to the left side of the arrangement. Again, start by adding your larger roses and peonies first, then add in the smaller scabiosa flowers and buds for additional texture and depth.

If you prefer to make an ombre bouquet, follow the same steps, but hold the stems in your hand as you design and tie them off with a beautiful ribbon!

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These fresh floral arrangements by Becca Olcott captured by Hello Love Photo are bright, beautiful and perfect for Spring time. The vibrant yellow Ranunculus and deep pink Tulips scattered throughout the arrangements are sure to be the highlight of any wedding decor. And who would have thought that lovely DIY could be so simple?

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Don’t these colors give you a jolt of happiness? These fiesta inspired floral arrangements from Bows and Arrows are absolutely divine, from the bouquet with its loose ribbons to the incredibly unique boutonnieres for the gents! Natalie of nbarrett photography captured this shoot that is simply a goldmine of gorgeous inspiration on any budget. We just can’t help ourselves but obsess over those mini terra cotta pots with bold blooms, paired with confetti and die cut place cards, all designed to perfection.

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Our friend and floral design Janie Medley – who you may also know her for her blog, The Bride’s Cafe, is back with us today to share another stunning floral bouquet! Keep reading to learn more about the flowers and greenery used in arranging this gorgeous, fluffy flower arrangement. Photos by the amazing Amelia Johnson.

From Janie Medley: The best time to purchase ranunculus is now… January through May. This time of the year is when they are in abundance and you can find them in so many yummy and vibrant colors. You will not be able to get them during the hottest months of the summer and you will see certain colors slowly start coming to the market in the fall.

Tulips can be purchased year round, however, you can’t get all varieties during the year. As with
ranunculus, the best time to purchase them are now. There is an abundance of colors and varieties at the market.

Sweet peas are available from December through May. White Scabiosa – you can find this flower year round but all colors may not be available.

Maidenhair fern, seeded eucalyptus, Queen Anne’s lace are in season year round.

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We’ve been patiently waiting for Fall to share this post by Sarah Winward of Honey of a Thousand Flowers. If you’re in love with the ombre trend – that dreamy gradient of soft colors – as much as we are, you will love these floral arrangements that Sarah designed. In a season where nature changes colors almost overnight, ombre comes as an organic inspiration. Thank you Erin Kate Photography for the images.

From Sarah Winward: The transition to fall is my favorite. On one tree or in one bunch of flowers, there can be a wide range of colors. I think mimicking the changes in nature for a wedding is gorgeous, and using an ombre theme for a fall wedding seems like a perfect way to do that.

These arrangements span a huge color palette. You could select a couple of colors from this range and focus on the transition between those two or three-or go crazy and do all of them. The play on warm and cool colors here is what makes this color palette interesting to me. If you want to narrow it down a bit, the spectrum of colors between peach and orange is an excellent choice for a fall ombre wedding. There is a certain sweet and sour element to this palette that is really appealing to me.

If you have one element that is ombre in your wedding, I think it is nice to let it make the statement and keep the other things consistent. I used different containers for the arrangements here, but they are all a similar type. The bouquets are different colors, but the ribbon is all the same. Or – keep the flowers the same and do ombre ribbon!

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We’re not quite ready to say goodbye summer just yet! Today Sarah Winward Honey of a Thousand Flowers is talking about late summer wedding flowers. Isn’t the bouquet below a stunner? Thank you Heather Nan for the gorgeous images!

From Sarah: It is against code of conduct to ask a florist her favorite flower, none of us can commit to one. But scabiosa resides somewhere in my top five, and that has never changed. I think they look like they were plucked straight from a watercolor painting, especially the lavender color. Scabiosa come in four different colors, all available at slightly staggered times and all are as gorgeous as the last. They are delicate and feminine. Scabiosa make wispy accents that give arrangements character, a perfect finishing touch. They are wonderful in little vases by themselves, in large arrangements, and bouquets. I like using them in all stages of their bloom, when they are just green buds all the way through as a mature flowers. You may have also seen the scabiosa pod. They are those little brown rustic balls that have been increasingly popular lately. The light purple and the white are similar in shape, both with large centers and broad petals. The dark purple and raspberry look like they have pincushion tops and they have smaller, fluted petals.

As a general rule, all of the colors are available in the summer to early fall. The white and is usually available first (June), Then the lavender and purple come, the raspberry is available for a short month or so, usually in August.